A found a guy near me selling a '04 GS500F for $1800. It only has 8000miles on it, but it does have a few scratches on the edges of the tank and fairing. One scratch is scratched the paint clear off. He said that he bought the bike a year ago and he bought it like that. Who knows. It's not dented, just scratched. He has receipts for some maintenance he's had done, such as new tires, carb tuning and he had to have a new fuel line put in. He paid about $500 for the service, all said and done.
What do you think? $1800 a good deal? The scratches would require repainting if you really wanted to repair them correctly. I could also just touch them up just to make it look better and cover the steel underneath..
So long as it checks out mechanically that's not bad at all.
$1,800 seems like a good deal. If its on Craigslist I always offer less. Thats kind of the unwritten rule of Craigslist as far as I am concerned. The price is just a starting point. Offer $1500 and negotiate to something in the middle.
Of course, only barter after you have looked at the bike in person and shown that you are clearly interested.
Seems reasonable to me. I bought my 2004 GS500F in 2006 with 8,000 miles for $3500. I always use this guide when buying a used bike: http://www.clarity.net/adam/buying-bike.html